Macro to export Solidworks Part to dxf - vba

Question

I want to export my part as dxf as part of a macro. I tried recording it, but when I execute the recording it runs into erroors (see below). Thus I took it to the internet and tried the answer provided to this question
"Macro for Saving Solidworks part configurations as dxf files",
but it doesn't seem to work for me either.
I have tried exporting to other formats, such as step, xt and stl, which all work flawlessly. The macro for dxf export though executes without any errors, but it also does not export/save anything.
Trying to use this with Solidworks2017
I have also tried to record my own macro but it stops at:
Set myView = Part.CreateDrawViewFromModelView3(Part, "*Oben", 0, 0, 0)
with the errormsg:
Runtime error '438': object does not support this property or method.
here the recorded macro in full:
Dim swApp As Object
Dim Part As Object
Dim boolstatus As Boolean
Dim longstatus As Long, longwarnings As Long
Sub main()
Set swApp = Application.SldWorks
Set Part = swApp.ActiveDoc
Dim COSMOSWORKSObj As Object
Dim CWAddinCallBackObj As Object
Set CWAddinCallBackObj = swApp.GetAddInObject("CosmosWorks.CosmosWorks")
Set COSMOSWORKSObj = CWAddinCallBackObj.COSMOSWORKS
Dim FilePath As String
Dim PathSize As Long
Dim PathNoExtention As String
Dim NewFilePath As String
FilePath = Part.GetPathName
PathSize = Strings.Len(FilePath)
PathNoExtention = Strings.Left(FilePath, PathSize - 6)
NewFilePath = PathNoExtention & "dxf"
' Save As
longstatus = Part.SaveAs3(NewFilePath, 0, 0)
' Redraw
Part.GraphicsRedraw2
Set Part = swApp.ActiveDoc
Dim myModelView As Object
Set myModelView = Part.ActiveView
myModelView.FrameLeft = 0
myModelView.FrameTop = 22
Set myModelView = Part.ActiveView
myModelView.FrameState = swWindowState_e.swWindowMaximized
Set Part = swApp.NewDocument("C:\ProgramData\SolidWorks\SOLIDWORKS 2017\templates\Zeichnung.drwdot", 0, 0, 0)
swApp.ActivateDoc2 "Zeichnung5 - Blatt1", False, longstatus
Set Part = swApp.ActiveDoc
Set Part = swApp.ActiveDoc
Set myModelView = Part.ActiveView
myModelView.FrameLeft = 0
myModelView.FrameTop = 0
Set myModelView = Part.ActiveView
myModelView.FrameState = swWindowState_e.swWindowMaximized
swApp.ActivateDoc2 FilePath, False, longstatus
Set Part = swApp.ActiveDoc
Dim myView As Object
Set myView = Part.CreateDrawViewFromModelView3(Part, "*Oben", 0, 0, 0)
Set myView = Part.CreateDrawViewFromModelView3(Part, "*Normal auf", 0, 0, 0)
Part.ClearSelection2 True
Part.ClearSelection2 True
End Sub

Answer 1

Exporting to DXF (or DWG) is different to saving other formats from SolidWorks as you have found out. It's typically used to export flat patterns of sheet metal components.
ExportToDWG2 (IPartDoc) is the API method you need to call to export to either of these two formats. As per the docs it allows you to:
Saves various aspects of a part (sheet metal, faces, loops, and annotation views) to one or more DXF/DWG files'
As such how you use this call will vary based on what you want to export.
Sheet Metal
If you are exporting sheet metal, as per the example you linked, then you will output a flat pattern. However if you try to export sheet metal with a model that does not contain any sheet metal features then the result will be that the call returns false and nothing is output.
The following would be suitable for a sheet metal part:
Dim success As Boolean
success = swPart.ExportToDWG2(dxfFilePath, modelFilePath, swExportToDWG_e.swExportToDWG_ExportSheetMetal, True, Nothing, False, False, sheetMetalOptions, Nothing)
There is no enum in SolidWorks for the sheet metal options but here's one you could use:
Enum SheetMetalOptions_e
None = 0
Geometry = 1
HiddenEdges = 2
BendLines = 4
Sketches = 8
CoplanarFaces = 16
LibraryFeatures = 32
FormingTools = 64
BoundingBox = 2048
End Enum
Usage would be as follows:
' Export geometry, hidden edges and bend lines
Dim sheetMetalOptions As SheetMetalOptions_e
sheetMetalOptions = Geometry Or HiddenEdges Or BendLines
A full macro may look like the below:
Enum SheetMetalOptions_e
None = 0
Geometry = 1
HiddenEdges = 2
BendLines = 4
Sketches = 8
CoplanarFaces = 16
LibraryFeatures = 32
FormingTools = 64
BoundingBox = 2048
End Enum
Sub Main()
' Connect to SolidWorks
Dim swApp As SldWorks.SldWorks
Set swApp = Application.SldWorks
' Connect to the active model
Dim swModel As ModelDoc2
Set swModel = swApp.ActiveDoc
' Validate a model is open
If swModel Is Nothing Then
swApp.SendMsgToUser2 "Open a part to run this macro", swMessageBoxIcon_e.swMbStop, swMessageBoxBtn_e.swMbOk
Exit Sub
End If
' Validate the open model is a part document
If swModel.GetType <> swDocumentTypes_e.swDocPART Then
swApp.SendMsgToUser2 "This macro only runs on part documents", swMessageBoxIcon_e.swMbStop, swMessageBoxBtn_e.swMbOk
Exit Sub
End If
Dim swPart As PartDoc
Set swPart = swModel
' Build the new file path
Dim filePath As String
Dim pathSize As Long
Dim pathNoExtention As String
Dim newFilePath As String
filePath = swModel.GetPathName 'WARNING: this will be an empty string if the part document has not been saved
pathSize = Strings.Len(filePath)
pathNoExtention = Strings.Left(filePath, pathSize - 6) 'WARNING: this assumes the file extension is 6 characters (sldprt)
newFilePath = pathNoExtention & "dxf"
' Define sheet metal information to export
Dim sheetMetalOptions As SheetMetalOptions_e
sheetMetalOptions = Geometry Or HiddenEdges Or BendLines
' Export the DXF
Dim success As Boolean
success = swPart.ExportToDWG2(newFilePath, filePath, swExportToDWG_e.swExportToDWG_ExportSheetMetal, True, Nothing, False, False, 0, Nothing)
' Report success or failure to the user
If success Then
swApp.SendMsgToUser2 "The DXF was exported successfully", swMessageBoxIcon_e.swMbInformation, swMessageBoxBtn_e.swMbOk
Else
swApp.SendMsgToUser2 "Failed to export the DXF", swMessageBoxIcon_e.swMbStop, swMessageBoxBtn_e.swMbOk
End If
End Sub
Faces, Loops or Annotation Views
If your part does not contain sheet metal features then you will have to use one of the alternative export actions: Selected Faces or Loops or Annotation Views.
Annotation Views is supposed to let you pass in an array of view names (such as *Front or *Current) but in my experience it does not work reliably and I am aware that there are some SPRs open against this in SolidWorks.
Selected Faces or Loops requires you to pre-select a face or loop prior to calling ExportToDWG2, so you would have to write some code to determine which faces or loop you want to use and select it, then call ExportToDWG2 with the action parameter set to swExportToDWG_e.swExportToDWG_ExportSelectedFacesOrLoops.